diff --git a/check_bird2_oneshot b/check_bird2_oneshot
index 9f36012..8115e74 100755
--- a/check_bird2_oneshot
+++ b/check_bird2_oneshot
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ while :; do
 	esac
 done
 
+birdc="${SUDO} birdc"
+
 test_route_limit() {
 	if [ "${ROUTE_HIT_IN}" != "" ]; then
 		printf "${protocol_name} has hit import route " >> \
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ DIR="$(mktemp -d '/tmp/nrpe-bird.XXXX')"
 #	${DIR}/bgp_protocols_up.txt
 
 # The sed removes the first two lines (BIRD 2.0.2 ready and Name Proto blah)
-birdc 'show protocols all' 2>${DIR}/bird-err | sed '1,2d;$d' | \
+$birdc 'show protocols all' 2>${DIR}/bird-err | sed '1,2d;$d' | \
 	awk -v RS= -v DIR=$DIR '{print > (DIR "/" $1 ".txt")}'
 if [ "$(cat ${DIR}/bird-err)" != '' ]; then
 	printf "ERROR: $(cat ${DIR}/bird-err)\n"